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Annotated bibliography: How to create one

What is an annotated bibliography? And how do I create one? This guide will help answer these questions. It also provides sample APA, MLA, and Chicago annotated bibliographies.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Annotations

Creating an annotated bibliography in MLA style

Here is a link to information about MLA 8th Edition 
[NOTE: Check with your instructor to confirm if you should use the 7th edition style or the new MLA 8th edition style.]

General guidelines

Some annotations are merely descriptive, summarizing the authors' qualifications, research methods, and arguments.  Your professor might also ask you to identify the authors' theoretical frameworks.

Many annotations evaluate the quality of scholarship in a book or article.  You might want to consider the logic of authors' arguments, and the quality of their evidence.  Your findings can be positive, negative, or mixed.

Your instructor might also want you to explain why the source is relevant to your assignment.

 

Sample Page: MLA-formatted annotated bibliography

1

  Battle, Ken. “Child Poverty: The Evolution and Impact of Child Benefits.” A Question of Commitment: Children's Rights in Canada, edited by  Katherine Covell and R. Brian Howe. Wilfrid Laurier UP, 2007, 21-44.

 Ken Battle draws on a close study of government documents, as well as his own research as an extensively-published policy analyst, to explain Canadian child benefit programs.  He outlines some fundamental assumptions supporting the belief that all society members should contribute to the upbringing of children.  His comparison of child poverty rates in a number of countries is a useful wake-up to anyone assuming Canadian society is doing a good job of protecting children.  Battle pays particular attention to the National Child Benefit (NCB), arguing that it did not deserve to be criticized by politicians and journalists.  He outlines the NCB’s development, costs, and benefits, and laments that the Conservative government scaled it back in favour of the inferior Universal Child Care Benefit (UCCB).  However, he relies too heavily on his own work; he is the sole or primary author of almost half the sources in his bibliography.  He could make this work stronger by drawing from others' perspectives and analyses.  Ultimately, Battle does offer a valuable source for this essay, because the chapter provides a concise overview of government-funded assistance currently available to parents.  This offers context for analyzing the scope and financial reality of child poverty in Canada.

   Kerr, Don and Roderic Beaujot. “Child Poverty and Family Structure in Canada, 1981-1997.” Journal of Comparative Family Studies, vol. 34, no. 3, 2003, pp. 321-335.

Sociology professors Kerr and Beaujot analyze the demographics of impoverished families.  Drawing on data from Canada’s annual Survey of Consumer Finances, the authors consider whether each family had one or two parents, the age of single parents, and the number of children in each household.  They analyze child poverty rates in light of both these demographic factors and larger economic issues.  Kerr and Beaujot use this data to argue that ...

 

 Rules! rules! rules!

The MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers states the following formatting rules:

  • The text and the works cited list should be double-spaced.
  • Number your pages at the top right of the page.
  • Reference list entries must have a hanging indent.
  • There should be 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins all around (top, bottom, left, and right) on each page.
  • Use Times Roman font, or a similar serif font.
  • Capitalize each important word (noun or verb) in a book or article title.
  • Each paragraph should be indented.